Articles such as, but not limited to containers, e.g., bottles, cans, etc., are generally supplied en mass via an infeed supply chute characterized by a conveyor and longitudinally extending guide rails of a guide rail unit which delimit discrete lanes of a select width to facilitate subsequent article grouping in advance of packaging. Commonly, the guide rails are adjustably supported along a positioning bar via conventional clamps (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 8,235,201 (Miller et al.), FIG. 1 depicting an upstream portion of an article nesting operation; note also U.S. Pat. No. 8,087,509 (Schmid), FIGS. 4 & 5), or contrariwise, lane guides are known to be adapted so as to carry a guide bar or the like having a selectively adjustable (manual) thickness (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,926 (Jacob et al.), FIGS. 2 & 3) so as to selectively reduce lane width. Thus, modification of packaging lines to accommodate a change in a package grouping for a given article, or to change the article being processed, have and generally require processing line down time owing to manual adjustment and/or change parts.
While it is recognized in the art to automate what had been a manual adjustment or modification of article lane widths, many automated approaches are believed cumbersome, or at least perceived as such, and limited in processing flexibility. This is particularly the case for systems/apparatus characterized by multiple article conveying lanes, as opposed to single lane systems (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,827,203 (Andreoli et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,520,380 (Ranger) wherein actuatable lane guides maintain a vertical alignment for a bottle (e.g., 11, 1.51, 21) routed therethrough in advance of filling). For example, threaded telescoping elements driven via a common shaft for uniform/collective lane guide adjustment (U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,104 (Evans et al.)), a rack and pinion carriage system for translating select lane guides in relation to a fixed central guide (U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,668 (Hunt et al.)), actuatable beams which slidingly support guide rails via linear bearings and guide rail supports (U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,734 (Moncrief et al.)), and, a master/slave approach characterized by a coordinated lever and link rod system for uniform/collective lane guide adjustment (U.S. Pat. No. 7,607,531 (Bonhomme et al.)) are heretofore known.
While arguably an advancement over manual adjustment approaches, each of the described multilane approaches are characterized by a degree of mechanical complexity. Thus, there remains a need to provided a precise versatile auto changeover assembly of elegantly simple design for universal multilane changeover. Moreover, facilitation of both nested and straight pack article/packaging processing, and conversion between such modalities, via an automated lane change approach is believed advantageous. Further still, a modular solution for in field systems is believed desirable in addition to provisions for an infeed station so characterized.